Harry Potter and the Tablet of Darkness
by z46c6T
Summary: Harry Potter is about to start his sixth year at Hogwarts School and Witchcraft and Wizardry, Voldemort is gaining power and support every day and Harry's horrible destiny looms closer and closer. Will Harry make it to the end of his Sixth year?
1. Night of a Thousand OWLs

Harry Potter and the Tablet of Darkness  
  
Chapter One: Night of a Thousand OWLs  
  
Privet Drive was a perfect example of middle-class habitat, any passer-by would be hard pressed to find a difference between each house and it's neighbour. Each garden was a small, well-kept affair, a tiny square of neat lawn bordered by a string of begonias. Every immaculate grey concrete drive lead up to a pristine car for the well respected business man, and a small path lead off to a oak-effect door and a neat house number in white.  
  
The residents of Privet Drive often took it upon themselves to check to normality of each house, to ensure that there were no funny goings on. Lately, the Dursley household had attracted the prying noses of Privet Drive's elite. The Dursley's were the most normal-obsessed family on the street, their lawn never grew more than two inches high, their drive never sported a single autumn leaf, and Vernon Dursley's car was as businessman- ish as you could get.  
  
But there was a peculiar edition to the Dursley familiar, known to all who asked as 'That Potter Boy', who was a dangerous delinquent who had been dumped upon the family by some good for nothing in-law, for most of the year he attended Saint Brutus' Centre for Incurable Criminal Boys, but in the summers he came home to terrorise Privet Drive. The Dursley family's burden might have attracted sympathy from some neighbours, but not in Privet Drive. To the neighbours all Harry Potter attracted was strange happenings, bangs, scared children, arguments and of course, owls.  
  
Owls flitted to and from the top-window-to-the-left at least once a day, and on this particular day a small fleet of owls soared towards the open window of Number Four. Fortunately for Harry, it was much too early in a Sunday morning for his oh-so-observant neighbours to notice the owl battalion coming towards him out of the dim morning light, they were safely in there beds, where any decent person would be.  
  
But Harry, unlike his neighbours, knew exactly what these owls were doing. Today was Harry's birthday, and ever since Harry Potter had discovered he was a wizard, presents had come his way every year, bearing presents from his friends at Hogwarts. For Harry was not a dangerous juvenile, that was a cover story hide the even stranger truth, Harry Potter was a wizard, and he was entering his Sixth Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Dursleys had kept him in the dark about this for most of his life, hoping to squash the magic out of him, but it had not worked, on his eleventh birthday the truth had come out when a half-giant named Hagrid had smashed open the Dursley's hiding place.  
  
The Dursleys were Harry's only remaining relatives, his Aunt Petunia was his mother's sister and Harry's only blood relative. The Dursleys had told Harry that his parents had died in a car crash, but the truth was they had died at the hands of the most evil wizard who ever lived, Lord Voldemort, most of the wizarding world daren't even utter his name, preferring He-Who- Must-Not-Be-Named, You-Know-Who or the 'Dark Lord'. Voldemort had then directed his wand to Harry, but instead of dieing, Harry become the only person in History to survive an Avada-Kedavra curse, and was left with just an ugly lightning shaped scar on his forehead, it was this scar that had made Harry famous in the wizarding world since he had arrived there five years ago. What's more, as Harry found out last year, Harry was prophesized to kill Voldemort, or to die at his hands, that night fifteen years ago Voldemort had 'marked Harry as his equal' and in doing so banished himself to a such a state he barely existed anymore.  
  
Many had believed that Voldemort had gone for good, but Hagrid, along with Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of modern times and headmaster of Hogwarts, knew he would be back. And sure enough, at the end of Harry's first year He, Ron and Hermione had battled an array of obstacles to find Lord Voldemort, possessing their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrel and trying to find the Philosophers stone and restore his power. However, Harry had stopped him, and Voldemort had retreated back to his bodiless existence. Three years later Harry had witnessed Voldemort's full rebirth, and his death eaters returned to him. But for a year the wizarding world had ignored it, the Ministry of Magic, specifically Cornelius Fudge, the Minster of Magic, had accused Harry of being deranged and convinced the world that the famed Albus Dumbledore was going senile. Despite the death of Hogwart's pupil, Cedric Diggory, and a number of strange happenings, Fudge refused to acknowledge Voldemort's return.  
  
But all was not lost, Albus Dumbledore had immediately called together the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society who had fought Voldemort in the first war. They combated Voldemort in secret for a year. Then, at the end of his fifth year, Harry had gone to the ministry of magic to safe his Godfather, convicted of a murder he did not commit, Sirius Black. Harry had been receiving dreams of Voldemort all year, he had seen Mr. Weasley, his best friend's Father and now closest thing he had to a Dad attacked by a snake. Harry had meant to have practiced Occlumency (blocking the mind from penetration and attack) to combat these dreams, but he had failed. And when Harry had arrived at the Ministry, he found a trap waiting for him, he, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood had duelled a dozen Death-Eaters (Voldemort's followers) until the Order arrived, and Harry, along with Cornelius fudge and half a dozen trained Aurors (dark wizard catchers) had witness Dumbledore duel with Voldemort. And so the truth of Voldemort's return had finally come out. But in the battle Harry's godfather had died, Harry didn't like to think about it.  
  
As the owls drew closer, he noticed there was more than his usual presents from Ron, Hermione and Hagrid and a letter from Hogwarts. No, Harry counted seven owls in total. The first, Harry recognised as the Owl who brought Harry his Daily Prophet every morning, he gave the owl a knut and put the newspaper on his desk, he'd read it later. Next soared in three owls sporting a single, large package, Harry recognised these as Pigwidgeon, Ron Weasley's tiny but enthusiastic owl, the old Weasley family owl, Errol, and, to Harry's immense surprise, Percy Weasley's majestic barn owl Hermes. Percy hadn't talked to Harry for a year now, he had sided with the ministry and believed every bit of rubbish about Harry they spewed out. Next came a Hogwarts owl, with a package from Hagrid, Harry presumed. And right at the end of the procession, three medium-sized brown owls Harry did not know, one with two letters and the other had a package. After they had deposited their loads the eight owls soared back out of the window and disappeared into the distance.  
  
Harry got to work on the presents. The Weasleys had sent him a small treasure trove, there were letters from Ron, Ginny, Fred and George and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, wishing Harry a happy birthday, Ron and Ginny reported not much had happened since their last owl and Fred and George had thanked them for the gold Harry had gave them and said their joke shop was doing very well indeed. Ron gave him a book on famous Quidditch players and how they had all started on the Hogwarts school team, both Harry and Ron were on the Quidditch team. Ginny gave him another book on dream interpretation, why, he did not know, Harry hated Divination and knew exactly what his dreams meant, still, he wasn't complaining. Fred and George had gave him what looked life there entire stock of skiving snack boxes and Mrs. Weasley had baked Harry a massive birthday cake. Harry took a bite, it was delicious, and under it all, a small green envelope, bearing a ministry seal, obviously from Percy:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
Happy Birthday! I hope this letter finds you well. I'd like to  
apologise for all that business last year, I am sorry to say that  
despite knowing you all these years, I was taken in by superiors and  
the Daily Prophet, my ambition got the better of me. I now realise  
what a git I was (pardon my French). You'll be happy to know that I  
have also apologised to my Parents, and my Brothers, and Ginny of  
course. I feel like such an idiot. Mother said I would not get my  
Weasley jumper until I apologised to you.  
  
I deeply regret my actions this past year, I hope you can find it in  
your heart to forgive me. If you're interested, I have been demoted,  
like the rest of Fudge's cabinet, to a position in the Department of  
Magical Law Enforcement, I can't say I am not upset, but maybe it will  
do me some good, Fred offered that it may 'Deflate my head a little'.  
Oh, and congratulations on the good news! I'll be seeing you at the  
ceremony.  
  
My sincere apologies,  
Percy Weasley.  
  
The last sentence puzzled Harry a little, but he soon forgot about it. Harry agreed with Fred but he knew how ambitious Percy was, still, he had been a real git the year before. Last week the Prophet had reported that Fudge had resigned from his place, and his cabinet had all been replaced. An elderly women named Madam Bones had replaced Fudge as Minister for Magic, Harry had met Madam Bones at his disciplinary hearing last year, when he had almost been expelled for protecting himself against a Dementor, evil creatures which sucked a person of happy thoughts who guarded the wizard prison, Azkaban. The Dementor, it had turned out, was sent by Delores Umbridge, 'High-Inquisitor' of Hogwarts, placed by Fudge to spy on Dumbledore. Fortunately, Umbridge now had a permanent place St. Mungo's hospital. Madam Bones had defended Harry at the hearing, and she was also a good friend of Dumbledore's. Dumbledore had of course had a lot of support himself, but had not stood for the position.  
  
Well, with the Weasley's horde out of the way, Harry turned his attention to the two letters and lumpy parcel the Hogwarts owl had bared. Harry ripped open the first letter, in a battered old envelope, with Harry's address scrawled over the front. This was from Hagrid. Just like the Weasley's letters it wished him all the best and offered him good luck on his OWLs, assuring him he couldn't fail to get an Outstanding in is Care of Magical Creatures OWL. The lumpy parcel contained a rough brown piece of string with a single dragon tooth on the end, Harry slung it round his neck, it was definitely an improvement on the vicious, biting book-come- monster Hagrid had sent him three years ago.  
  
The next Hogwarts letter reminded Harry he would be going back to Hogwarts this September and would need the following books:  
  
Fighting the Unknown – Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts by  
Archibald Soth  
NEWT Transfiguration by Minerva McGonagall  
The Art of Potion Making by Martha Stringbean  
The Bumper Book of Beasts, Creatures and Monsters by J. Timberson  
An A-Z of Charms by Amber Wilberforce  
  
These were for his NEWT classes, which Professor McGonagall, Harry's head of house had put down for him the previous year. There was still the matter of getting into these classes though, which depended solely on his OWL (Ordinary Wizarding Level) results, which Harry guessed were in the official-looking Ministry of Magic envelope to his left. When he opened it, sure enough, a letter written in immaculate emerald ink bearing the Ministry crest and "HARRY JAMES POTTER – ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL EXAM RESULTS". Harry folded out the rest of the paper to find his results:  
  
Key  
O – Outstanding  
E – Exceeds Expectations  
A – Acceptable  
========  
PASS LEVEL  
========  
P – Poor  
D – Dreadful  
  
Defence Against the Dark Arts – O  
Transfiguration – E  
Charms – E  
Potions – O  
Care of Magical Creatures – O  
History of Magic – A – Harry mentally thanked Hermione for her notes  
Herbology – E  
Divination – P  
  
Congratulations on your outstanding results Mr. Potter.  
  
Harry was extremely pleased with his results, the only class he failed was Divination, which was no big loss. He was surprised to see that he had received an Outstanding in potions, which he had often considered his weakest subject, Harry suspected that last years events had swung it in his favour. He wasn't sure to be happy or not, receiving an O meant Harry would be able to get onto the Potions NEWT course, so he could be an Auror, but it also meant another two years cooped up in the cold dungeons with Harry's least favourite teacher, Snape, and a room full of Slytherins. He had also received Es on both Transfiguration and Charms, which got him onto those courses, and, unsurprisingly, an O in Defence Against the Dark Arts.  
  
There were only two packages left, the second letter from the Ministry of Magic, and Hermione's package. Harry opened Hermione's package, and saw a thick, heavy looking book entitled "Hogwarts – A History". Hermione's voice rung in Harry's ear, "One day, you'll read Hogwarts – A History..." Harry smiled, thinking maybe it was time he did stop relying on Hermione for facts. The enclosed note wished Harry a very happy birthday, and informed him that Hermione had received Outstanding on all her OWLs, and she had taken more than Harry. Then again, she was the smartest girl in the year.  
  
The final letter also bore a Ministry of Magic logo, but it was slightly different, as strung under the crest on an inky banner was "Office of the Minister of Magic". Harry wondered what on Earth Madam, Minister Bones was sending him. There was only one way to find out. Harry opened the envelope carefully and found the most official looking letter of them all, apparently hand-written by the Minister herself:  
  
Dear Mr. Potter,  
  
As you may be already aware, the Ministry of Magic has undergone a  
change in leadership. I, Madam Amelia Susan Bones, Order of Merlin,  
First Class, Senior Member on the Wizengamot, have replaced Cornelius  
Fudge, recently stripped of his titles and Order of Merlin as Minister  
for magic. The Ministry and I would like to offer our full apologies  
for any distress the Ministry or my Predecessor has caused you in  
recent events. We withdraw any statements made on your character or  
piece of mind and fully acknowledge your innocence in the underage  
magic incident last year.  
  
Furthermore, in light of your outstanding courage when facing He-Who-  
Must-Not-Be-Named, his followers and the protection of your friends  
and fellow pupils at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The  
Ministry would like to offer you an Order of Merlin, First class –  
  
Harry paused. An Order of Merlin? Harry knew the were a great honour, especially first class ones, they were reserved for heroes and those who had performed outstanding deeds. Dumbledore had one, and they brought great glory on the owner. But Harry didn't want glory, he got enough attention as it is, he didn't know if he could take a year of glaring eyes, Slytherin taunts and snide comments from Snape. Well, at least they didn't know yet, Harry read on...  
  
Your presentation ceremony will take place on Monday 1st of January,  
during the Christmas Holiday, at the Ministry of Magic, we will send  
details closer to the date.  
  
The press have been informed of this decision.  
  
Yours Sincerely,  
Henrietta Bones, Order of Merlin, First Class...  
  
Harry sighed, he knew 'the press' meant, 'the Daily Prophet'. This was obviously what Percy had meant. And sure enough, when Harry picked up his Daily Prophet, the headline read "HARRY POTTER AWARDED ORDER OF MERLIN". Now everybody knew.  
  
Harry looked over at his alarm clock, another hour until breakfast. He began to read the Prophet.  
  
Authors Notes  
  
So that's the first chapter... please please please review it, this is my first ever Fanfic and I'd love to know what you all think of my writing, I'll respond to all of the, I promise .. If you spot any mistakes don't hestitate to point them out, I've tried my best to iron them out though. I'm planning to write the whole of the sixth book, from 20-30 chapters and a seventh book after, of the same length. I'll try and post the next chapter as soon as possible.  
  
Review Responses  
  
Well, I said that I'd respond to them all...  
  
SnichyPup, Sunny Dragoness: I'm now thinking maybe tonight for Chapter Two. I just hope that it lives up to expectations. Panther28: Hmm... I don't know how I missed that, but thanks, it's corrected. CrazyPoet: Thanks, I try my best to imitate JK Rowling. KaliedescopeCat: Yeah, I got my sister to beta-read it, but as it turns out, she's not too hot on grammer either. JasonPotter: I hope I post more too. Fanfiction Fanatic: Well I'll get started on it tonight, so probably Sunday or Monday if I get chance to work on it over the weekend. michael: Thank you, as I said, I'll try and find a better beta-reader to spot my iffy grammer.  
  
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Harry Potter, or I wouldn't be posting this on FANfiction.net would I?  
  
That's all folks. 


	2. More Ruddy Owls

Chapter Two: More Ruddy Owls

It had taken Harry a whole week to work his way through Mrs. Weasley's giant of a birthday cake. And Harry had been practically living on it, since Aunt Petunia was still rigorously enforcing Dudley's diet, despite this, Harry noticed Dudley was getting more and more bear like every day. Harry on the other hand, was as scrawny as ever, he had grown a lot over the last few weeks, and he was even starting to grow out of Dudley's old clothes, his trousers barely reached the top of his ankles and his shirt had become more of a T-Shirt, they were as baggy as ever though.

Harry woke up early again on the Sunday, his alarm clock read 5 O' Clock, he had been dreaming about the Department of Mysteries again. When Sirius had died, the veil, the death eaters, the mysterious locked room… Harry tried in vein to get back to sleep, his bed clothes were drenched in sweat, and he had knocked his clothes from the bottom of his bed as he thrashed about in his sleep. As the cold morning light began to penetrate Harry's room, he rose groggily from his bed and stared into his mirror. His hair was all ruffled up, he tried to flatten it the best he could, but Harry knew better than to think it would ever look presentable. As he moved his hand over his scar it gave a small sting, Harry winced a little.

His eyes strayed over to the window and rubbed his eyes, a tiny owl was at the window.

"Why didn't you knock?" Harry said sleepily, opening the window. The owl bore his copy of _The Sunday Prophet,_ Harry dutifully paid the owl a single Knut and opened up the Prophet.

_"HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED STRONGER THAN EVER" SAYS BONES_

_The Ministry of Magic has quashed rumours that You-Know-Who is on the retreat today. A spokesperson for the Minister said "we have it on reliable sources that You-Know-Who is gaining strength and supporters by the day and is now stronger than ever"._

Harry grinned, he knew that when _The Prophet _said "sources" it meant, "The Order of the Phoenix". That reminded Harry, he needed to write to Moody to tell him everything was okay.

_The lack of activity by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers has led to an increasing belief that the Dark Lord has simply faded away into the background, or that he never returned at all, despite the repeated assurances from _The Prophet, _The Ministry of Magic and Albus Dumbledore._

_For advice on how to protect your home, turn to page…_

Harry thought for a second, if they'd seen what he'd seen, done what he'd done… there'd be no doubt in their mind. Maybe these people just don't want to admit that he was back, he thought, they think that if they deny it, it'll all go away. But they know, in their back of their minds, they know he's back. And when it all starts, really starts, they'll no longer be able to ignore it.

Harry tried not to think about it, he'd gone over this a thousand times in his mind, he'd have to kill, it all revolved around death, and it was all Voldemort's fault, he caused all this misery and pain, one man, it just wasn't right.

Harry pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment, Hedwig looked up excitedly, he knew she was bored, "Don't worry, we'll be back at Hogwarts soon", he reassured her, she hooted pompously and turned her head. He began his letter to Moody, he had to write to him every three days, to make sure he was okay, at first these letters were packed with questions and news, but they had gradually got smaller, now they were just a small acknowledgement of his existence.

_Professor Moody,_

_Everything's__ fine, though I wouldn't mind getting out of here. The muggles are boring._

He'd been asking Moody whether he'd be leaving for the Burrow, or Grimauld Place, he never got a reply. Harry attached the letter to Hedwig's leg.

"You know where to take it…" He said, and Hedwig soared off through the window.

He flicked back through _The Prophet_, a few suspicious muggle killings, more guides on home defence. He remembered what Hermione had said last year, "it hasn't really started yet".

At half past nine Harry pulled on his trousers and shirt and went downstairs for breakfast, the Dursleys were already arranged around the breakfast table. Dudley was shovelling down what looked like a fruit bowl full of Muesli, Aunt Petunia was pouring herself a large glass of orange juice and Uncle Vernon was reading the local paper; Little Whinging Weekly. Harry took his seat opposite Uncle Vernon, he poured himself some cereal and was just about to pick up the jug of orange juice when he noticed something was horribly wrong…

Every day since the summer holidays began Harry had come down to the same scene, same breakfast (in accordance with Dudley's diet), same disgusted look on Aunt Petunia's face. But usually, Uncle Vernon had wasted no time in asking Harry whether he had written to his "freak friends", terrified 'Mad-Eye' Moody would turn up on there doorsteps. (_What would the neighbours think?) _For the first week of so, Harry had enjoyed pretending he had forgot and observing the Dursley's look of pure horror as he dashed upstairs. But the novelty had worn off.

Only Uncle Vernon hadn't said a word to Harry this morning, by now, Aunt Petunia and Dudley had noticed too, they were looking nervously between Uncle Vernon and Harry. After a couple of seconds of tense silence, Uncle Vernon slammed the newspaper down on the table. They whole family was now glaring at Harry.

"Look!" Uncle Vernon said, jabbing at the paper, his neck muscled tensed and his face beetroot red.

Harry scanned the Headlines: _Mill__Lane__School__ visits aquarium, Zebra Crossing gets go-ahead, £42.59 raised at sponsored haircut, unusual owl activity, Sparky the donkey found… _Harry's face sunk as he saw the article, a tiny paragraph in the corner of the eighteenth page.

_Unusual Owl Activity_

_The Little Whinging Amateur Bird Spotter's (LWABS) club has noted a change in the usually sleeping patterns of the region's owls, as well as an increase in the number of owls being spotted that are not native to this region. Experts believe that global warming may be a factor._

Harry opened his mouth to utter a defence but Uncle Vernon got there first.

"I TOLD YOU TO MAKE SURE THEY WEREN'T SEEN!" He roared, Aunt Petunia shrieked and Dudley made to grab the newspaper, looking smug. "IF THE NEIGHBOURS WEREN'T SUSPICIOUS ALREADY, THEY WILL BE NOW, IN THE BLOODY PAPER I TELL YOU!"

"But, but… hardly anyone's going to read that and it didn't mention…" Harry said quickly.

"I DON'T CARE! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE NEIGHBOURS AND THOSE FREAK FRIENDS OF YOURS I'D HAVE YOU OUT OF THIS HOUSE LIKE THAT!" Uncle Vernon clicked his fingers loudly.

"Now Vernon, we can't just…" Aunt Petunia squealed, Dudley looked disappointed.

"It's okay Petunia, I know… But mark my words boy, if the neighbours get wind of any of this I'll have you out of here quicker than you can say owl. I don't care what the neighbours think!" Harry knew it was an empty threat, but he was still scared for his safety if he left the house, Voldemort could get him at any time. But he wasn't going to tell Uncle Vernon that.

"You wouldn't dare!" He said, plunging his hands into his pockets instinctively and pulling out his wand. Aunt Petunia shrieked and Dudley fled behind Uncle Vernon.

"YOU DON'T SCARE ME BOY! I KNOW YOU CAN'T USE THAT THING, SO PUT IT AWAY AND GET UP THOSE STAIRS, I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN! AND IF YOU TELL THOSE FRIENDS OF YOURS, I'LL THROTTLE YOU BEFORE THEY GET CHANCE TO GET HERE!" Uncle Vernon was on his feet, Aunt Petunia and Dudley crouching behind him (not that Uncle Vernon could block even half of Dudley's vast behind from sight). Harry practically threw his chair across the room as he stood up, staring at Uncle Vernon, determined not to blink. He was right, he was helpless, he couldn't use magic, or leave, it would be too risky. Harry turned on his heels and stormed upstairs. Slamming the kitchen door behind him.

He threw himself down on the bed, not even turning the light on. Trying to calm himself down, think about what to do. He couldn't stay here now, it was definitely time to get out of here, out of Privet Drive, out of Little Whinging, back to where he belonged, the wizarding world. After a couple of minutes, he pulled himself of the bed, grabbed a quill and started writing.

_Moody,_

_The muggles have had enough, my owls were seen and well, it's a long story. Anyway, the muggles have locked me up here, just like last year, I need to get out of here. To the Burrow, or __Grimauld Place__, anywhere, just away from here.___

_Harry_

He'd have to wait until Hedwig came back from her last delivery to send it, he sighed and laid back down on his bed, wondering if Moody would come and get him, or if he'd just have to ride it out. He dreamt of being back at the Burrow, he didn't want to go to Grimauld place, too many memories, of Sirius, Kreacher…

Before long Harry had slipped into a deep sleep. He was in that room, in the Department of Mysteries, a veil shimmered in the middle of the room, Harry walked forward, he could here something, someone called, screaming. Sirius. It got louder as he went closer to the veil, Harry became suddenly excited, he would see Sirius, he could see a shadow behind the veil, he was there, just behind the veil. He could see Sirius' smiling face, he wasn't really dead, just behind the veil, he was just there, everyone was there, Mum, Dad, Cedric, everyone… he could feel them. He pushed away the veil, a shadow was crouched on the floor

"Master…" The shadow whispered, kissing Harry's feet. He was no longer in the Department of Mystery, somewhere else, he was outside, it was cold. He was in a graveyard, sitting on a cold stone chair, a throne. The shadow at his feet was no longer a shadow, it was Peter Pettigrew.

"We are many now master." Wormtail squeaked excitedly, "We are ready to attack."

"Good. We shall do it soon. October." Harry said. He hadn't thought it, he had just said it. Harry felt a peculiar shudder go through his body as he did. "There is someone here…" Harry said, "I feel… a presence." Wormtail looked confused, and Harry rose from his stone chair, looking around. There was a loud screech and a bang.

Harry woke with a jolt, his bedclothes were drenched in sweat, he must've dreamed about Sirius again, he couldn't remember. Hedwig was tapping at the closed window, Harry let her in and she hooted, and ruffled her feathers. It was dark outside, and it was raining. Harry fed Hedwig an owl treat and attached the letter to her leg.

"Sorry, no time to rest. I need you to deliver this to Moody." Hedwig looked at him puzzled, Harry knew what she meant, "I know I just sent one, but hopefully we'll be getting out of here. Now go on." Hedwig nodded and soared out of the window.

Harry was still tired, he went  back to sleep.

Authors Notes

There we go, a bit shorter than the last chapter, but I got everything I wanted in there. I hope I managed to keep up the style, sorry it took so long though. I'll try and get chapter three out quicker. Again, please review if you read it, tell me what you think, and especially point out any mistakes you see, I still haven't managed to find somebody to beta-read.

I've also tried to correct some mistakes in the first chapter.

Bye for now.


	3. Immediate Withdrawal

Chapter Three: Immediate Withdrawal

Hedwig had returned the next day empty handed. Since then, Harry had spent most of his time pacing up and down his bedroom wondering whether he was getting out of Privet Drive, or whether Moody had even received the letter at all, surely he would at least send a reply. It had been three days and Harry had not left his room, Aunt Petunia had slid a bowl of tomato soup and a slice of bread through the cat flap in his door twice a day. Life seemed to continue as normal for the Dursleys, they had completely ignored his presence, or lack of it. Though Dudley had taken to banging on the wall loudly for long periods of time, knowing full well Harry was bolted in his room and was powerless to resist. Harry decided to get all his homework out of the way, but even Snape's monster essay on aptitude-enhancing potions hadn't occupied him for more than a couple of hours, for some inexplicable reasons Harry found that when he put his mind to it, he did know a lot of the things he would usually ask Hermione to help with, maybe she'd had an impression on him after all.

After all his homework was done Harry read the book Ron had given him, which turned out to be quiet interesting. He had then re-read some of the Defence Against the Dark Arts books Sirius and Lupin had presented him with last Christmas, thinking about how these would be very good for DA, maybe he would be allowed to restart it this year. Even with Umbridge gone, the DA would be a good place to raise awareness about Voldemort at Hogwarts. Though, ultimately it was Harry who would have to deal with him, many of those at Hogwarts now may go on to fight Voldemort, in the Ministry, as Aurors, some may even join the Order of the Phoenix. After he had reread all his Defence Against the Dark Arts books, Harry had remembered that Hermione had sent him a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_. Harry flicked open the book, roughly the size of shoe box, at the beginning. The contents spanned nearly five pages of tiny black ink. But something leapt out at him straight away.

_Hogwart's Secrets_

_…The Forgotten Rooms_

_…The Chamber of Secrets_

_…Secret Tunnels_

The forgotten rooms had piqued Harry's Gryffindor curiosity. He flicked to the corresponding chapter, it was rather large, Harry scanned the introduction first.

_It is said that the founders of Hogwarts each created a secret room, aside from the Chamber of Secrets (see page 4125). They were originally to be used as dormitories for each of the Founder's house, each founder built there room in a place they thought represented the quality's of their house and placed enchantments upon them to make them invisible to everyone except their house. Unfortunately, there was a flaw in their protection, only a _true _member of each house could access it. But by the time the problem had come to light, it was too late to undo their charms, so they abandoned the idea and used the Password system still in use today._

_However, it is rumoured that the rooms were not completely lost, the Founder's used the rooms to store many of their most precious possessions, as only they could enter the rooms. When they died many of their affairs were supposedly placed in the rooms, artefacts the founders thought too dangerous or powerful to be used by other wizards. The location of these rooms were lost forever, as so few people could actually see them, and only one of the artefacts placed inside them is known, the…_

At that point a loud knock sounded at the Dursley's door, Harry slammed the book shut and threw it into his trunk. As Harry approached his bedroom door to listen a huge crash sounded through the room.

"VERNON!" Harry heard Aunt Petunia scream.

"NOW ALASTOR! THAT REALLY WASN'T CALLED FOR…" Said another voice, Mr. Weasley's voice. Harry welled up with excitement, they had come to get him! He quickly packed the remainder of his possessions not already in the trunk, grabbed Hedwig's cage and pushed hard on his bedroom door. The rusty old bolt gave way and Harry found himself on the landing looking down at a very peculiar scene. Mad-Eye Moody was leading Arthur Weasley, Lupin and Tonks through the kitchen door and into the hallway. Tonks knocked a vase of flowers over on the way in, spilling water everywhere. Uncle Vernon strode out with a shotgun in his hands, pointing it at Moody. Aunt Petunia was again behind Uncle Vernon's back and Dudley was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm warning you! I won't have people like you just striding into my house and…"

"Don't point the ruddy muggle wand at me Dursley!" Moody screamed, raising his wand.

"Don't you point that at me!" Uncle Vernon said, a look of terror on his red face. "I'm not afraid to use this you know!"

Moody didn't look in the slightest bit bothered, "I told you Dursley, if I got wind that you were mistreating Potter in any way, I'd be up here. And I'm a man of my word Dursley."

"He lives in my house so I'll do what I ruddy well like with him. I will NOT have him endangering my family…"

"Don't be such an idiot, we've had wizards guarding your house all summer" Moody retorted, wand still at Uncle Vernon's throat.

"I… wha'… you people, here? Watching?" Uncle Vernon stammered, sending spit everywhere, "That's the last straw, either you leave my house right now or I'll…"

"You'll what, use your muggle wand? Don't make me laugh!"

"I, I, I'll kill you that's what I'll do! It's self defence, I'm just protecting my family!"

"I've had enough of this Dursley" Said Moody calmly, seemingly uncaring about the gun pointing at his face. "Impedimenta!"

"ALASTOR!" Mr. Weasley cried.

A jet of light erupted from Moody's wand and Uncle Vernon shot across the hall into the door at the other end, Aunt Petunia ran to his side, wiping his dazed face of blood and screaming loudly.

"What have you done to him!?" She sobbed at Moody.

"He'll be fine." Moody growled, putting his wand into his pocket, "Now, where's Harry, we really must be off." Harry took his moment and ran down the stairs, trunk and owl in hand.

"Ah, ready to go Potter?" Moody said pleasantly.

"Err.. yeah" Harry glanced at Uncle Vernon's bloody face. Mr. Weasley seemed to be trying to convince Aunt Petunia to let him heal Uncle Vernon, but to no avail. Aunt Petunia had simply resorted to shielding his lifeless body. Tonks was smiling behind Moody, she had bright canary yellow hair down to her shoulders. Tonks was a metamorphagus, meaning she could change her appearance at will. Aunt Petunia was not impressed.

"Hello Harry" Said Lupin, Harry's old Defence Against the Darks Arts teacher. Lupin was a friend of his fathers, and a werewolf. He looked worse than ever, pale, clammy skin, watery eyes and hair even more ruffled than Harry's. Harry remembered it was a full moon last night, Lupin really shouldn't have come…

"Hello Professor." Harry said, smiling. But at that moment the massive body of Dudley Dursley lunged out from the kitchen and into Lupin, his fist made contact with Lupin's jaw hard, spraying blood against the wall with a horrible cracking noise. Moody and Tonks span around, wands pointed towards Dudley. But Dudley was not one of the country's top young boxers for nothing. He was instantly at his feet and jabbed Moody hard in the stomach, Moody fell forward and red sparks shot from his wand, burning the side of Dudley's face. If it weren't for the situation, Harry would have been impressed at Dudley's bravery. Dudley had a lot of bad run ins with wizards, leaving him with a pigs tail, and a very large tongue for one. Yet here he was, taken on four fully qualified wizards.

"Dudders no!" Aunt Petunia shouted, her eyes red from furious crying. Arthur Weasley was on his feet, he shot a well aimed leg-locked curse at Dudley who was heading for a shocked Tonks, who had broken another vase. Dudley fell over, completely petrified. Aunt Petunia cried even harder, she seemed too distraught to move, let alone speak. Moody and Lupin slowly rose to there feet, Lupin's frail visage was covered in blood and his jaw was askew.

"You better get out of here." Shouted Mr. Weasley, who was now wrestling Aunt Petunia to try and get to Dudley. "I daresay I'll clean up here…"

"Where are we going?" Said Harry anxiously.

"Grimmauld Place," Said Tonks cheerily, Moody shot her a disgusted look, "Oh, err, sorry, it's a secret, right… Hermione and the Weasleys are there, much more convenient than the Burrow."

"We'll be going by portkey." Moody growled, answering Harry's unasked question. "That's if Tonks leaves something unbroken that we can use…" Tonks blushed, having just smashed her third vase. "This'll do," Said Moody, pointing his wand at a very expensive ornament in the shape of a swan. Aunt Petunia looked positively terrified. "Portus."

Moody, Tonks and Harry all put a finger on the porcelain bird. Harry felt a jerk behind his navel and an unpleasant sick feeling. He appeared in the kitchen of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. It was a strange sight. The table was surrounded by a very anxious looking bunch of people. Harry counted three redheads, a plump, motherly looking women, Mrs. Weasley. A tall, gangly looked boy of around Harry's age, Ron Weasley, and Ginny Weasley, who was also a lot taller than when he had last seen her. Between Ginny and Ron sat Hermione, she was about Ginny's height and had a large amount of thick, bushy brown hair.

As Harry, Moody, Lupin and Tonks emerged in the room they all gave a large sigh of relief and exclaimed, "Harry!". Mrs. Weasley, Hermione and Ginny all rushed forward to give Harry a hug. After Harry had hugged each and every one of them for the third time and was feeling rather squashed he manage to gasp a hello.

"Where's Arthur?" Said Mrs. Weasley, suddenly realising her husbands absence and looking very worried.

"There was an… err… incident, he stayed behind to take care of it." Said Lupin, Mrs. Weasley gave a sigh of relief and sat back down. Mr. Weasley emerged in the room a few minutes later, panting.

"Well, I managed to get them all back to normal and tried to explain, but they weren't happy about it." He shot a nasty look at Moody, "There wasn't really any need for such force, the man was just protecting his home, and… Dudley is it? Was very brave, after that trick Fred and George played on him last year. I'm sure if we'd just explained…"

"Ah, they wouldn't have listened Arthur. Ruddy muggle fools, locking Potter up like that." Moody said wisely.

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to show Harry to his room now," Said Mrs. Weasley, getting to her feet, "We've a meeting in a few meeting."

She ushered Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione out of the room. Grimmauld place looked a lot better, the hall was much brighter, the wallpaper was now a light beige colour and the carpet was a sky blue. What's more, many of the ugly artefacts the Black family had left here were gone, after all, the family had died with Sirius. The house elf's heads were gone from the wall, and Harry noticed there was not curtain on the stairs.

"Where's Sirius' mum gone?" He inquired.

"Kreacher took it." Replied Ron, "He knew how to take down a bunch of this stuff, just didn't tell us. We said he could take it if he told us how to get it down."

"Take it where?" Harry asked, even more puzzled.

"Well, when Sirius… well, you know, there were no Blacks left, so Kreacher was free," Hermione answered this time, "But he wanted to go work for the Malfoys, Mrs. Malfoy is a Black remember. The Malfoys needed a house elf, since you freed Dobby. So they took him. And they were more than happy to take a lot of the stuff he brought, very valuable to some people."

"Wait…" Harry had suddenly realised something, "Who owns this house now?"

"Well, you do." Said Ginny.

"Sirius named you as his sole heir" Said Hermione knowingly, "You got a lot of money too, and everything in this house."

"We figured you wouldn't mind if we stayed here." Said Ron grinning.

"Well you'll be paying rent." Joked Harry. They all laughed.

So Harry owned the house… he didn't really care, it's the Order's house really, and all that stuff, just memories of Sirius. It seemed so unfair, Harry had inherited too large fortunes now, just because the people he loved had a habit of dying. Maybe he'd give it to the Weasleys, he didn't need it after all, and the Weasleys had done so much for him. But he knew how sensitive Ron was, they wouldn't accept it. There were more important things than money.

"Where are Fred and George?" Said Harry, breaking the silence.

"Well they've got their own place now haven't they? Above their shop, they're doing really well you know, well you saw those dragon skin jackets they had on last year, very expensive." Ron sighed longingly, "I guess people just need a laugh right now. With all that's going on."

"Well here we are," Said Ginny, they had come to a set of double doors on the top floor of the house, a long landing  with soft red carpet and cold stone wall, small torches lit by an enchanted green flame gave some dim light. "Mum made the room up for your, it used to be Sirius'." Harry pushed open the heavy oak doors, revealing a large room. It had a blood red carpet, crimson wallpaper and a high white ceiling, engraved with some kind of story, Harry could make out the carved shape of some dragons… and a wizard dressed in long, robes, on a throne. A huge crystal chandelier lit the cavernous room. At one end stood a magnificent four poster bed, a bigger version of Harry's bed at Hogwarts, it was made of deep brown oak and also had the shapes of dragons carved into it, and some kind of writing. Empty gold frames hung on the wall, their subjects obviously removed during the cleaning.

"There's a bathroom through there." Said Hermione, pointing to a oak door on the left side of the room.

There was also a large oak wardrobe, with six drawers underneath it. There was a large table, complete with inkwell and several bookcases next to it.

"Some of those books are a bit… err, dodgy." Said Hermione, "But there's some useful ones too."

Harry felt like a king.

Author's notes

See, I told you I'd do it quickly. So what do you think of Harry's new bedroom? And I'm glad I got a nice brawl in there too, I think we might have an appearance from a certain headmaster soon. I still haven't found a beta-reader (Hey, if anybody feels like it, email me.), so they'll be some mistakes. Again, please review, I'll try and respond to them.

Until next time.

Review Responses

**Panther28**: Ahh damn, I had a feeling it was.

**Brittany Michelle Granger**: I don't celebrate the Fourth of July, I'm English. ;)

**violingirl7**: Yeah, probably because I've read the Harry Potter books constantly since four came out, kinda rubs off on you. I dunno where I got Henrietta from though.

**SnichyPup**: I hate them too J


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